The Fifth Marauder
by DreamCauldron
Summary: If James had had a younger sister, and if she was in love with Remus, would the story that we love so much have ended in the same way? *re-upload/re-write*
1. Chapter 1

Ella Potter was currently running down the corridor, pushing past anyone who got in the way. She was late, very late, and she knew she was going to get into trouble. Not that that is a new thing but anyway, she tries to avoid it when she can. Running into the class room she stopped dead when she seen the Professor looking at her with those eyes that everyone was a bit scared of.

"Well well, late again are we Miss Potter?" Professor McGonagall was standing behind her desk waiting to start her lesson. Everyone knew this was not a teacher you could joke around with. Everything about her just screamed 'don't mess with me'. So when Ella entered the classroom sweating and out of breath she couldn't help but flinch at the harsh tone in her Professors voice.

"I'm sorry Professor." she mumbled.

"What is the excuse this time may I ask?"

"I um…" she was looking down at her feet, trying to avoid looking at her. "I slept in."

"Hmm." It was obvious that McGonagall didn't buy this at all but by some miracle she let it pass. "Very well. Take a seat then Ella. Oh, and 10 points will be taken from Gryffindor."

With a sigh Ella opted for a seat right at the back, away from everyone else. She could really do with not having to go to classes today but she figured turning up late would be better than not turning up at all. Although seeing as she would have lost house points either way there wasn't much of a difference. What else could they do? Stick her in detention? Again…

She wasn't listening to what McGonagall was talking about, no doubt it would be something important but Ella is a very fast learner, top of most of her classes to the surprise to some, if not all, Professors. Despite her reputation she really was a clever girl. Just some things are far more important. Like, let's say, the fact one of your friends is a werewolf.

Yes, last night was a full moon and, as usual, she was helping Moony. Hence the complete lack of sleep. She had been running around the forest all night keeping Moony entertained while helping make sure he doesn't eat anyone, and rip himself to shreds. She found it very hard to think that Remus could hurt anyone. Even as a werewolf he seemed gentle somehow. Like he is the same Remus he always is. Shame he doesn't see himself that way.

Another sigh left Ella's lips. Every time she thought about how much Remus hates himself it hurt her. He didn't see himself the same way everyone else does. The gentle, kind, loving Remus that has been the centre of Ella's affections for years (Not that he knows that of course). All he can see is the Werewolf. He thinks he is a monster but, of all the things he is, a monster is definitely not on the list.

When the class ended Ella quickly gathered up her things and was planning on heading straight to the Great Hall to meet up with the rest of the famous Marauders for lunch. Her plan was disturbed however when one of her roommates, Hannah, stepped in front of her.

"Where were you last night?" She asked without as much as a greeting.

"Out." Ella said vaguely as she tried to get past her but all Hannah did was step in her way.

"With who?"

"What is this?" snapped Ella "Why are you interrogating me?"

"I just want to know where you were. I worry when you don't come back at night. Who knows what you are getting up to! Where you with your brother and his friends again?"

"Yeah I was, so what? Is it a crime to spend time with my brother? And they aren't just his friends, they're mine too."

"You really shouldn't hang out with them." She said in disapproving voice.

"You're not my mother Hannah, you can't just tell me who I can and can't hang out with." she laughed.

"Are you dating Black?" Hannah blurted this out quickly. The only response Ella could muster was to laugh of her.

"Me dating Black?" she said when she caught her breathe. "Have you actually gone insane?"

Ella didn't wait for a reply she just stepped around her and started to make her way to the Great Hall for lunch in a much better mood than she had been earlier. Dating Sirius? Of all the things she could have asked her that was definitely the most hilarious. She loved him, of course she does, just not in that way. Sirius is like a brother to Ella. A brother she never wanted but a brother all the same. And besides, she knows what Sirius is like with girls. He is not the relationship type guy. He's the 'Shag 'em and leave 'em' type of guy.

She didn't stop laughing till she got to the entrance to the Great Hall and looked over at the Gryffindor table. First thing she noticed was that Remus was missing. Understandable in the circumstances. Having your body torn apart and healed back together twice in the one night didn't seem like much fun. He was probably in his dorm sleeping off last night, or still in the Hospital wing. But still, it didn't stop the small frown that appeared on Ella's face whenever he was missing. Stupid really when you think about it.

Walking over to her friends she noticed that, once again, James was trying to get Lily's attention. That boy just did not give up.

"You know." she said as she sat between him and Peter. "Some people would have taken the hint by now."

"And what kind of person would that make me little sis?" he said with a smirk on his face. He said time and time again that it is only a matter of time before Lily caves and confesses her undying love for him. And he is probably right as well. Ella had overheard her talking about him in one of the corridors with a friend. She most definitely does not hate him as much as she pretends to. A fact Ella has kept well hidden from her big brother. It is fun to watch him beg. And his head was big enough already.

"How was class?" Peter asked.

"Ugh crap." Elle reached for some chicken. "McGonagall took ten points off me for being late. The rest of the class I just sort of blanked out on. Pass me the bread Sirius."

"Say please." he teased

"I'm not in the mood Padfoot, can you just pass me it please?"

"Why, what's wrong there kitten?" he said with mock sympathy. "Missing your boyfriend?"

"What boyfriend?" demanded James, his attention being pulled away from staring at Lily.

"There is no boyfriend. Sirius is just being a prat. As always."

Sirius leaned over the table handing Ella the bread basket whispering "So you don't miss little Remy then?" low enough so that neither James nor Peter could hear him.

"Shut up Sirius." she spat back.

One annoying thing about Sirius was that, no matter how hard you try to hide something he always managed to figure it out. She has never confirmed that she has a crush on Remus. Okay, maybe it is a bit more than a crush. Not that she will ever act on it or anything! She is about 100% certain that he doesn't feel the same way about her. It just about broke her heart every time she thought about it. Sirius has been teasing her about it for weeks; he was slowly driving her insane. If he didn't quit it soon, she was going to hurt him.

Just then Severus walked passed where they were sitting to get to the Slytherin table. Ella tried to hold back a sigh. And, as if right on cue, James spotted him.

"Hey, Padfoot, look who just walked in." A cocky smirk was now plastered on James' face. Nothing pleased him more than ruining Severus' day. And in front of the whole school as well.

"Ah yes, I do believe out friend Snivellus is over there. Perhaps we should go say hi."

And before Ella could say anything James and Sirius were walking over to him. She didn't bother to follow them; she knew what they were going to do. They will make some stupid remarks that will wind Severus up causing him to fire a hex at them, and then they will use that as an excuse to embarrass the hell out of him. It was childish.

"I'm just going to go back to the common room I think Pete. Try to study or something before next class."

"Yeah yeah, sure, see you later." He wasn't listening to her. He was too busy looking at his idols.

_Some people to idolise. _She thought.

On her way up to the common room she couldn't help but think about the way James treats Snape. She couldn't understand why he likes torturing him so much. The one time she asked him about it his reply was "I just do." and that was it. "I just do." Hardly a good reason to pick on someone if you asked her. Perhaps she should try talking to him again. Try to make him understand that the way he treats him is wrong. Especially when the guy is best friends with the girl he loves. But then, she would have to talk to Sirius as well. And there was no talking sense into that boy. None at all.

Once she was through the portrait hole she froze in surprise. There was Remus sitting in one of the comfier armchairs by the fire reading a book. He normally doesn't surface for a whole day after the full moon. He tends to like to be alone. Although the common room is always empty this time of day, maybe he does this all the time.

She walked towards him and her stomach clenched when he turned round to see who was there and smiled at her.

"Hey, what you doing here? You're normally down at lunch." He asked.

"James and Sirius." was all she said as she sat in the chair opposite him.

"Ah." there was a knowing look on his face. He hated there treatment towards Severus almost as much as Ella does. If possible, it makes her love him more.

"How are you feeling? You okay."

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit sore is all." another smile was aimed at Ella. She suddenly realised that it is never just him and her together. Someone else is always with them. The butterflies in her stomach went crazy.

"Good. I mean, it's not good that you are sore; it's good that you are okay. Of course it isn't good you are sore, that would be a stupid thing to say." she mentally scolded herself. What the hell was she doing? She was acting like a stupid eleven year old rambling away. But Remus just laughed. "Sorry, not had much sleep you know."

"Yeah." he looked down at his book. "Sorry."

"Don't be an idiot. Being there for you is worth a night's lack of sleep." He looked up at her not knowing what to say. They just stared at each other for a few seconds till Ella broke the silence. "What you reading?"

Remus smiled slightly. "It's a muggle story, Romeo and Juliet. It's a love story."

"Oh, really? Do they have a happy ending?" Ella asked growing a bit nervous for some reason.

"I don't know." He said giving her a strange look. "Haven't managed to get to the end yet." Smiling he added. "I'll let you know when I get there."

"Thanks." After another awkward silence Ella stood up. "I should probably be getting to class. Don't want to be late for History of Magic now do I?"

"Oh, most definitely not. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, bye."

Before she exited the portrait hole she looked back at Remus once more. She wanted to stay and talk to him but she knew she shouldn't. She would end up saying something that she would most likely regret. And she didn't want that.

What she failed to notice, though, was that Remus was fighting thoughts in his own head.

_Ask her to stay._

_No you can't ask her to stay!_

_But, I want to! _

_She is your best friend's sister._

_So? He would understand._

_Why would he possibly understand?_

_Because…I love her._

...

Hey, this is a re-upload. I'm starting this fic all over again cause I wasn't happy with it. Hope you guys enjoyed it and please review and tell me what you thought.

xxx


	2. Chapter 2

**Gah, I seriously suck. This took so long for me to update and I honestly have no excuse what so ever. And I have no idea what the ending is but…here's the second chapter. I promise I'll try to make the next one better.**

**Thanks for reading.**

…

"Fawn! Hey Fawn!" Sirius came running up the corridor, dodging in between the other Hogwarts students and knocking some of the younger ones over. "You need to come with me!"

Ella, or Fawn as she is known to the other Marauders, turned round to see a very red and a very out of breath Sirius come to a halt beside her and Hannah.

"Why is he calling you Fawn?" Hannah asked Ella but she ignored her.

"Why? What have you done Pads?"

"Hey! I haven't done anything! It's your brother; I dunno what to do with him."

She sighed. "Have you two done a really stupid prank again?"

"I am hurt. Why do you automatically assume I have something to do with this?"

"Because, you usually do." Ella said, playfully punching him in the shoulder. Turing to face Hannah she said. "I have to go. Better go see what my idiot brother is up to."

"I thought we were going to go study?" Hannah said finally managing to pull her eyes away from Sirius. Every girl in the school had a crush on Padfoot, Ella being the obvious exception. Apart from him being good looking she couldn't understand what was so special about him. Yet, every other girl in the school goes all nervous and giggly around him. She found it more annoying than amusing.

"I know, I know." Ella said as Sirius started to pull her away. "I'm sorry."

Turning towards where Sirius had come from they both set off into a run. She knew that James wasn't in any immediate danger or else Sirius would have just carried her away or something. Most likely he has tried to pull a prank on someone that backfired and got cursed himself. That happens more often than James would like to admit.

"Where is he Pads?"

"At the Greenhouses. We just left Herbology when it happened."

"When what happened?"

"Wait and see!"

She didn't say another thing till they were outside where the Herbology classes were held in the Hogwarts grounds. She could see James in the distance sitting on a tree stump with Peter and Remus hovering over him. He looked like he was ill. He was pale, she would have described it as him seeing a ghost if they weren't surrounded by them every day.

"What the hell!" She said, sinking to the ground as soon as she got to him. "James? James, are you okay?"

"Sh-she said yes." he mumbled so quietly Ella had to stain to hear him.

"Who said yes?"

"Lily." James looked at Ella. "I just blurted out if she would go out with me and she said yes. Six years I have been asking her. Six years!"

Ella started at him for a few seconds before asking. "Are you being serious James?" She stood up and smacked him hard over the head.

"What the…what was that for?"

"You had me worried seeing you like that! And it was all because Lily finally caved in! Merlin James!" She spun around and started to head back up to the castle.

"Where are you going?" James shouted after her rubbing the spot where she had hit him.

"To find some sane people to study with!"

Remus watched her walk away. Once again he was battling thoughts in his head. He so badly wanted to go with her. To tell her everything, tell her how he feels about her. But can he? He could be risking his friendship with Prongs. But then again, he could gain a relationship with Fawn…he was torn.

But then, deciding to act on an impulse, he chose that he was going to go after her.

"I think I'm going to go study as well. Got an essay due for Runes tomorrow."

"Yeah you do that Moony." There was a knowing smirk on Sirius' face. "You go, _study._"

Not bothering to wonder why Sirius sounded like that he headed off in the direction Ella went not but a few minutes ago. When he was sure that none of the others could see him he picked up into a run.

_Where could she be?_ He asked himself. _In the common room or the library? …The library._

Heading up the stairs he tried to formulate a plan in his head. How was he going to bring this conversation up normally? He couldn't exactly just walk up to her and go _"Hey El, how are you? Oh, by the way, I love you will you go out with me please?" _No doubt she would hit him if he did that. He wasn't even sure if she had any sort of feelings for him except friendship. Remus was definitely risking a lot by doing this. If he fucked this up and she went to James…he will be a dead man.

And it wasn't just James he had to worry about either. Sirius would probably seriously harm him as well. The more he thought about it the more this seemed like a bad idea.

Entering the library Remus inhaled the delicious smell of books. It made him feel relaxed and at home whenever he was in the library. Books were a comfort to him when no one else could be. He felt a bit calmer now being in here. At the very least she couldn't scream at him. He hoped.

He quietly walked around looking for Ella, quickly spotting her in one of his favourite spots next to the restricted section studying a book. Hardly anyone sits there, they were too freaked out by what sort of books were in there to go near it, it was always quiet. Taking a deep breath he walked over and flung himself in the chair next to her, swinging his legs over the arm causing her to jump.

"Godric Moony! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sshh." he whispered. "No shouting. We are in the library, remember?"

"Oh right." Ella smiled at him. "James let you go from his sick bed then?"

"Sorry about that, if we would have known that hitting him would have fixed it Sirius would never have bothered you."

She smiled over at him. "Yes he would have. I'm the only one he wouldn't have hit back."

"That's true." Remus laughed. They sat in silence for a while. It should be awkward and tense but it wasn't. It felt right to be able to just sit with someone and not have to fill every second with conversation. It was nice. "What you studying."

Ella let out a laugh. "We have a test in DADA tomorrow."

"Oh yeah? What's it on?"

She looked up from her book and smirked at him. "Werewolves."

"Ha, really? Well then, I am expecting you to get 100% on that test."

"Yes Professor." As soon as those words came out of her mouth Ella went bright red and looked back down at her book.

_What are you doing Ella? _ She screamed at herself. Do_n't flirt with him for Merlin's sake!_

"I um…" he swung himself round so that he was sitting properly in the chair. "I need to talk to you about something."

Once again Ella looked up from her book, the red not yet leaving her face. "Wh-" She was about to ask what about when they were interrupted.

"Ella Potter?" They both looked round to see a little girl from Hufflepuff standing nervously beside the chairs. She must be a first year by the size of her. And by the fact she had to ask who she was, everyone knew the marauders in this school. Not all for good reasons either.

"Yes?"

"Professor Dumbledore wants to see you. And your brother. He says it's urgent."

"Oh." Ella looked at Remus. "Okay, I'll be right there."

The girl was about to turn away when she said suddenly. "Also, he said he liked gummy elf's. Don't know why." And then she ran off.

"Wonder what Dumbledore wants." Remus said after a few seconds of silence.

"You don't think he knows me and James are Animagi do you?" She couldn't quite hide the panic in her voice. It was illegal to be an unregistered Animagi. They could be sent to Azkaban for it.

"Don't worry." Remus wanted to be able to reach out to her and comfort her. But he couldn't till they spoke properly. "You go; I'll find James and send him up. It is more likely this has something to do with him than you." he smiled weakly at her.

"Yeah…" She stood up and left without saying another word. It was never good being sent to Dumbledore's office. He never exactly just invited you for some pumpkin juice. These days' people were sent to his office because their parents…no.

She froze. It couldn't be that could it? Her parents were in the Order but it is impossible for them to have gotten hurt. They were her parents, everyone's parents are indestructible. After standing in the corridor for well over ten minutes she walked on auto pilot to the headmaster's office. Dragging her feet the entire way there.

When she got there she mumbled a barely audible "gummy elf's" and climbed up the stairs. Not bothering to even knock she just walked into his office. James was already there. She must have been standing still for longer than she had thought.

James stood up and walked over to Ella and enclosed her in his arms. Now she knew it was their parents. What else could make James act like this?

"Are they dead?" she whispered.

Her answer didn't come from James but a familiar voice from across the room. "No, they're not dead. But they are badly hurt."

"W-What happened?" She asked when James finally let go of her.

"There was a raid." Dumbledore said. "I'm not going to go into details but your parents are very seriously hurt. They may not recover."

"I-I don't…" She looked over at James but he was trying hard not to look at her by staring at his feet. "I don't understand."

"I think its best you go to the hospital. Visit your parents before…"

"Before what?" Ella shouted. This was the main difference between her and James. While he liked to stay calm and quiet in tense situation she yelled. Not even caring that the man she was shouting at was Albus Dumbledore, Ella glared at him. All she wanted was a straight answer. No vague ones that just put ten more questions in her head.

"Before it's too late." Dumbledore answered gently. Not being affected at all by her tone.

Ella continued to glare at him for a few seconds before turning back to look at James, her expression softening instantly. "James…" She whispered, causing him to finally look at her.

"It's going to be alright.

With a nod she turned back to look at her Headmaster. She had so many questions she wanted to ask but couldn't get them out. What was going to happen? Where were she and James going to go? Why did this happen to the bravest people she knew?

In that moment she was terrified. She didn't like not knowing what was going to happen. Inside her head she was screaming. Screaming in anger and pain and she couldn't make a single noise come out her mouth. She didn't want to go say goodbye to her parents. She didn't want the last image she has of them being on their death bed instead of them waving at her, smiling as the train pulled away from Platform 9 3/4. But, she allowed herself to be guided over to the fireplace. Allowed James to take a handful of Floo Powder and throw it in the fire. Allowed herself to be shown to her parents room.

And all the while, she didn't say a single word.


End file.
